Okay...

I'm really starting to like the overall capabilities of DNN, having played with it for about 2 weeks now... I have been trying to understand how to implement these menu systems, but there is no CENTRAL area to help me figure this out...

My main goal right now is to do this:

1. create a 'standard' navigation menu for all visitors to use to navigate my site
1. I don't want ADMIN items on this menu at all
2. create an 'admin' navigation menu that can be placed in a different spot
1. I don't want NON-ADMIN items on this menu at all

I've tried using the HouseMenu in my LeftPane, and the dnn:MENU item in the ContentPane. Of course, there doesn't seem to be any method by which I can 'remove' items at-will from these two menus, as both of them pull the site (tab) structure and populate the menu...

So, I visited http://www.solpart.com, to help me learn more about the dnn:MENU capabilities. Unfortunately, there is some serious discrepancy between the docs for the SolPartMenu and the one in DNN... Apparently these are two different menus... When I visit this page: http://www.solpart.com/techcorner/spmenuexamples/MenuExample5.aspx I see something I'd be interested in... The ability to tell the menu WHAT ITEMS TO PUT ON IT... And this page: http://www.solpart.com/techcorner/spmenuexamples/MenuDesigner.aspx WOW! What a nice feature! But, it doesn't seem to work with the SolPartMenu that ships with DNN, does it? After spending a few moments with it, and clicking 'save' at the bottom, I copied the code it said I generated into my test page, and of course, it broke, stating that these properties weren't supported by the menu... That seemed strange to me...

Anyway, my goals stand, and I want to be able to drop a specialized menu into a custom admin page that ONLY shows admin links... I would like the ability to tell the menu what items are on the menu, and what those items should be linked to... Right now, I don't see any way to get this done...

Can anyone shed some light on how all of these menus are related, unrelated or can be used to get a menu that I dictate?

Thanks!

Bill

You know you're not the only one.. I've been working with DNN for nearly 3 years, and the menu has been without doubt the biggest challenge.

Part of the problems we have are two fold - we have newcomers to DNN who's expectations of what a menu should and could do is influenced by the thousands of different navigational designs on websites around the world.  However, the one thing that most people forget is thereare very few menus that are driven by database managed sites and offer the end user the scope of customisation that is possible with DNN.

Then we have issues on compatbility - this is a very subjective topic since DNN seems to cop alot of flack about being completely compliant in the eyes of many. And I agree, yes there are challenges, but it's not all DNN that is the problem, it is in fact shortcomings in the 1.1. framework, on which DNN runs.  And yes, I've seen some people make *compliant* skins but they aren't what I feel commercially usable since they limite the designer dramatically.

Having said that - I'm currently writing a book - DotNetNuke Skinning and Design for Wrox  similar to the DotNetNuke books around now  - the red ones you see.  It's forced me to really look at how the menu functions, behaves, can be modified and changed, it's limitations, comparisons between different menus, including third party ones.

I have created for free download, several different skins that have menus on them that have some form of customisation. I don't do too many changes to the menu, since these skins don't get supported like commerical work, hence I can't stray too far from the standards.

You can download them for free on my site and open up the files and have a look at how they work.

I do feel for every person struggling with the menu, you're not alone, but I an also say there are some new things on the horizon to assist you.

http://www.telerik.com and http://www.componentart.com and http://www.devmansion.com have got menus that I know there are DNN providers for. If you want to write one then that would be cool, since there's always room for more.

Nina Meiers

Thanks for the sympathy in this problem. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one frustrated with the DNNMenu rigidity...

In terms of moving forward, however:

I have vs2005pro and would like to attempt to write my own provider, assuming that this is the path I should take. Although I'm not a coding guru, it doesn't scare me to try...

Do you guys and gals have any pointers, URLs or other references where I can start looking into creating my own menu provider? Is it as easy as copying the existing DNNMenuProvider, and simply changing it? What are the other considerations? Is it too much to explain? Anyone else already done this that could offer some pointers?

Any help to get me where I need to be would be most appreciated!